My Life as a Potato by Arianne Costner
Release: March 24th 2020
Format: Ebook
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Source: Amazon
Synopsis:
For anyone who has ever felt like a potato in middle school, this hilarious story about a boy forced to become the dorkiest school mascot ever will have readers cheering!
“A grade A, spudtastic (not to mention FUNNY) debut. Arianne Costner sure knows middle school and middle schoolers!” –Chris Grabenstein, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library
Ben Hardy believes he’s cursed by potatoes. And now he’s moved to Idaho, where the school’s mascot is Steve the Spud! Yeah, this cannot be good.
After accidentally causing the mascot to sprain an ankle, Ben is sentenced to Spud duty for the final basketball games of the year. But if the other kids know he’s the Spud, his plans for popularity are likely to be a big dud! Ben doesn’t want to let the team down, so he lies to his friends to keep it a secret. No one will know it’s him under the potato suit . . . right?
Life as a potato is all about not getting mashed! With laugh-out-loud illustrations throughout, hand to fans of James Patterson, Gordan Korman, Jeff Kinney, and Chris Grabenstein!
My Life as a Potato Review:
This book was just adorable and fun. It is a charming story of friendship, fitting in and potatoes! I loved the entire concept of the story of how Ben has to lead a double life. He has to balance between being popular and being the ridiculous school mascot at the same time. The story gets better Ben realizes that being the mascot isn’t so terrible and how he tries to make the best of the situation.
Ben is wonderful as the main character. I always had this fantasy about how people would consider me popular if I moved to a new place and made a few changes to myself. I like reading that about Ben and how he tries to adjust to the new school with his new friends. Ben’s friends, Hunter, Ellie and Mitch are also fun and charming. In fact, all the supporting characters, including the Coach, Duke or even Jayla added well to the story.
I thought the author did a wonderful job with this story. She talks about all the insecurities that anyone goes through in school. There are so many quirky moments that you cannot help but smile to. For instance, I loved when they start doing the mashed potato dance or the ideas that Ben and Jayla come up with to invite each other to the dance. Many scenes made ma laugh out loud on how Ben reacts to the situation. On a side note, the illustrations by James Lancett also compliment the story SO well! I laughed out loud at some of the illustrations like when Ben is running away from the fans, or when the cat throws up on him!
Overall, this is a delightful, fun story to read which also sends out a good message.
